Chapter 172 Dust Shadow Pride
The 19th day of the twelfth lunar month, Beijing West Railway Station.

There was a crowd of people at the exit. A young man in black was mixed in with them. He was walking forward silently, holding two swords wrapped in cloth in his arms.

"Oh." Lu Ran sighed inwardly.

But the short one-hour drive seemed to take him to another world.

From the deserted rain alley to the bustling capital city.

"Brother!" A pleasant female voice came from afar.

Lu Ran turned his eyes and swept through the crowd of people, and saw a pretty face.

Like Lu Ran, many people looked over.

The girl was slender, pretty and charming, with a beautiful smile, and it seemed as if she was on a different level from the other tourists around her.

She seemed to be used to being the center of attention. She didn't pay any attention to anyone else. She just stared at Lu Ran and waved her hands.

"Yeah." Lu Ran also smiled and couldn't help but quicken his pace.

Beautiful things can really make people feel comfortable both physically and mentally.

"My aloof brother, you finally decided to see me!"

Qiao Yuanxi took a step forward and hugged Lu Ran's arm.

Lu Ran: “.”

He never expected that one day someone would use the word "cold" to describe himself.

"Did you bring me anything delicious?" Qiao Yuanxi raised her little face and looked at Lu Ran's profile.

As she asked this, her hand reached for Lu Ran's bulging pocket.

Sure enough, there is delicious food!

Lu Ran: "It's cold."

"It's okay, it's okay." Qiao Yuanxi was very happy and took out a paper box from Lu Ran's pocket.

The hamburger from the small town of Yuxiang has the honor of being eaten by the daughter of a wealthy family in Beijing, except for the lettuce.

On the street, in a black car, Guan Yiren looked through the dark car window at the brother and sister approaching.

It was rare that a truly aloof Jianyi follower showed a faint smile on his face.

Normally, Qiao Yuanxi loves to laugh and make noises, but Guan Yiren can see that at this moment, little Yuanxi is happy from the bottom of her heart.

"I'll greet him." Niu Zhengzheng sat in the passenger seat and turned his head to look at the back seat.

Guan Yiren didn't say anything. She still looked out the window and nodded slightly.

Niu Zhengzheng was not surprised by his teammates' attitude.

As he opened the door and got out of the car, a young man in the driver's seat looked out of the car: "This is Lu Ran."

Guan Yiren remained silent, pretending to hear nothing.

The young man looked through the car window at the young man in black who came to the front of the car, but Niu Zhengzheng was too big and was covered even more tightly.

"Brother Ran, why are you losing weight again?" Niu Zhengzheng smiled innocently.

He placed his big hands on Lu Ran's shoulders and squeezed them gently, as if measuring the thickness of Lu Ran's shoulders.

Lu Ran looked up at the towering man and sighed, "You're getting stronger and stronger, aren't you?"

Qiao Yuanxi's cheeks were puffy, and she said vaguely: "The bull head might have eaten it."

Lu Ran looked at his sister beside him and said with a smile: "You are not bad either."

After a short walk, the hamburger box in Qiao Yuanxi's hand was empty, with only some fried chicken residue left.

Qiao Yuanxi glanced at Lu Ran unhappily.

"Ah." She motioned to Lu Ran to open his mouth, and picked up the oil residue in the box with her fingers and put it into Lu Ran's mouth.

Lu Ran: “.”

"I heard from Yuan Xi that Brother Ran has already reached the River Realm." Niu Zhengzheng looked at Lu Ran with admiration.

His mind had completely changed.

Ever since their last training session together, Niu Zhengzheng no longer regarded Lu Ran as a pure follower of the Immortal Sheep.

Instead, we should add a few words in front: Rejected Yanzhiren’s Immortal Sheep believers!

Once the prefix "Yanzhiren" is added, Lu Ran's qualifications, strength and other aspects can all be explained.

"Aren't you the same?" Lu Ran said casually while eating the oil residue under his sister's smiling eyes.

In the past few days, Lu Ran has been communicating with his sister via text messages frequently.

He knew that in this three-person team, Guan Yiren and Niu Zhengzheng had successively advanced to the river realm.

The two of them are worthy of being believers of the first-class and second-class gods, and they are indeed extremely talented.

In the team, only Xiao Yuanxi, a third-class believer in God, is at the fifth stage of the Creek Realm.

Seeing Qiao Yuanxi’s level, Lu Ran didn’t want her to enter the Night Succubus Cave even more.

However, the Guan, Niu and Qiao trio are a team, and my sister is the commander of the team, so it is impossible for her to leave the team.

"Get in the car!" Qiao Yuanxi urged, "We'll talk on the way."

The tall and strong Niu Zhengzheng naturally sat in the passenger seat.

Lu Ran opened the back door and saw Guan Yiren sitting inside.

In this cold winter, the capital city is also covered with snow.

However, this Jianyi believer, wearing a white ancient-style long skirt, looks very cold-resistant.
"Good morning." Lu Ran greeted.

Guan Yiren had no intention of moving and looked up at Lu Ran: "Long time no see."

"Oh?" Qiao Yuanxi was amazed and looked at Jianyi's followers, "Sister Yiren said four words!"

Guan Yiren couldn't help but smile and gave Qiao Yuanxi a blank look.

Jianyi believers may continue to move closer to their own gods, but they will still show some expressions when facing the people close to them.

"Snapped."

Qiao Yuanxi closed the car door and dragged Lu Ran around the back of the car: "I want to sit by the window."

"Stop it." Lu Ran opened the car door and pushed little Yuan Xi in rudely.

"Hey?" Qiao Yuanxi hurriedly lowered his head, sat down on the back seat, and threw his upper body into Guan Yiren's arms.

She pursed her lips and turned to look at Lu Ran: "It's so thin, it must be very powerful."

Lu Ran: ???
What a word!

“Hahahaha!” Niu Zhengzheng laughed loudly, “Brother Ran really should eat more haha!”

Lu Ran looked uncomfortable and got into the car.

When I practice cultivation, I really forget to eat and sleep.

On the contrary, every time I entered the Demon Cave for training, I ate a lot and slept more regularly in the Stone Inn.

"Hmm." Qiao Yuanxi moved slightly, but did not stand up. He simply stayed in Guan Yiren's arms.

Guan Yiren looked at the naughty girl and felt a little helpless. She placed one hand on the side of Qiao Yuanxi's face and pinched her earlobe as if to punish her.

"Oh, right." Qiao Yuanxi covered her ears with one hand, "This brother is Xiao Yusong, and he's sister Yiren's uh."

"My childhood friend." The young man named Xiao Yusong answered, "We grew up in the same compound."

Lu Ran observed the young man through the rearview mirror.

The other person was probably in his early twenties, with medium-length hair, and a very literary vibe.

Qiao Yuanxi continued, "When he heard that Sister Yiren was going to the Night Demon Cave, he volunteered to protect us."

"Hello." Lu Ran said politely.

Xiao Yusong looked up at the rearview mirror and exchanged glances with Lu Ran: "I've heard of your name for a long time."

“You’re welcome.” Lu Ran nodded slightly.

Xiao Yusong looked at Lu Ran carefully, his eyes not shy at all.

The car fell into silence. After seven or eight seconds, Xiao Yusong suddenly said, "Good knife."

Lu Ran was a little surprised.

The two swords in his arms were still wrapped in cloth and were not shown to anyone.

Lu Ran said: "My father gave it to me."

But he didn't want to, Xiao Yusong said: "I'm talking about you."

Niu Zhengzheng touched his big head and turned to look at Lu Ran: "I just felt something was wrong. Now that Brother Xiao mentioned it, it really looks like it?"

Guan Yiren played with little Yuanxi's earlobe and briefly looked at Lu Ran.

After several months of separation, Lu Ran's temperament has indeed undergone a drastic change.

Such changes are common among groups of believers.

Everyone is constantly improving, and the improvement in strength and realm will naturally be reflected in a person's "spirit".

"My brother turned into a knife?" Qiao Yuanxi didn't feel much.

Ever since I met Lu Ran, he is still the brother I remembered.

He was still harsh in his words, but his love for her in his heart had not diminished in the slightest.

"Are you a follower of the North Wind?" Lu Ran asked.

"I haven't had the honor." Xiao Yusong smiled and shook his head, looking quite casual.

Qiao Yuanxi said quickly: "Brother Xiao is a legendary figure!
Back then, he was worshipping the first-class god, Master Takeo, on the altar!"

"Oh?" Lu Ran understood what his sister meant, "Didn't you become a martial artist's disciple later?"

Xiao Yusong shook his head: "I am a follower of Chenying Sect."

Lu Ran was startled. What did he hear?
The eighth level god Dust Shadow?
Oh my god, this guy is a rare commodity.
Dust Shadow is a plant-based god that appears as a giant gray-black flower.

Occasionally, energy flows above the flowers, and shadows of the mortal world appear.

It could be mountains and rivers, or it could be a bustling city.

It could be the sun, moon and stars, or it could be the daily life and people living in the alleys.

Therefore, people also call it "dust shadow flower".

As an eighth-class god, Chen Ying actually dared to compete with the first-class god Wu Sheng for believers?
The only possibility is: it’s too suitable!
It is worth mentioning that although Chen Ying ranks eighth, the magic of this sect is definitely top-notch!

No matter whether you are a first-class or second-class believer of God, in terms of your value to the Great Xia Kingdom, you are really no match for the believer of the eighth-class God, Dust Shadow.

This is because a powerful Dust Shadow believer can activate a teleportation array!

This kind of magical skill has gone beyond the ordinary scope of strength and weakness. People will not compete with you in output defense, or auxiliary control.

Instead, from the perspective of "strategic value", it has directly achieved overtaking on the curve!
Like the seventh-rank god Lietian, there is a special reason why Chen Ying ranks so low.

The root cause is that there are very few disciples in the Chenying sect.

I don’t know whether the human race’s physique is not suitable for being a follower of Chen Ying, or Chen Ying himself has extremely high standards for accepting disciples.

In short, the Chenying school is losing its talents.

The god Dust Shadow himself is a relatively neutral being, preferring to exist as an "observer".

This leads to a bigger problem:

The disciples of the Chenying sect are indeed extremely capable, but only a small number of them are used by Daxia.

More disciples were led astray by the Lord God and became "human cameras".

It's very, um, very bardic.

"Yuan Xi said you volunteered to protect us." Lu Ran asked, "Do you mind entering the world?"

Xiao Yusong shrugged his shoulders, as cool as ever.

He is indeed a great person who rejected a first-class god and "married" an eighth-class god.

It does have some personality.

Lu Ran also smiled: “If you are willing to participate in the disputes in the world, then you are the treasure of Da Xia.

Don't protect us anymore, let me protect you instead."

Hearing this, Xiao Yusong couldn't help but look strange.

Even though he knew something about Lu Ran, he still couldn't help but laugh secretly.

"Brother, be more modest!" Qiao Yuanxi poked Lu Ran's shoulder, "Brother Xiao not only doesn't mind entering the secular world, he even participated in Tianjiao!
By the way, brother, do you know the show Tianjiao? "

This time, it was Lu Ran's turn to look strange.

Just yesterday afternoon, Deng Yuxiang called and said that "Tianjiao" agreed to let Lu Ran participate in this project.

She also said with a smile that Lu Ran's magic weapon, the Xiaguang Sword, added a lot of points to him.

Lu Ran nodded and said, "I have heard of it."

"Huh?" Qiao Yuanxi held back all the words in his heart, "You actually knew that?"

Lu Ran: "My teammate's sister participated in the internal test as a representative of Wuliehe University."

"Then you also know the value of it, and you still want to protect others!"

As he spoke, Qiao Yuanxi sighed with admiration: "Those who can participate are the most outstanding people among the young generation of Daxia."

Lu Ran looked at Qiao Yuanxi's longing expression and couldn't help but smile:
"Why don't you ask me if I will participate?"

"You?" Qiao Yuanxi looked at Lu Ran, "No matter how powerful you are, you are only at the first level of the River Realm!

Besides, you are still a high school student, and you don’t have a university."

As he was talking, Qiao Yuanxi suddenly stopped.

Looking at Lu Ran's doting smile, Qiao Yuanxi opened her mouth slightly: "You?
Do you really want to participate?
ah???"

Three updates today: 12, 18, and 22.

(End of this chapter)